Day 27

In the face of the struggle for freedom,
Give us strength.
In the face of decision about freedom,
Give us wisdom.
In the practice of freedom,
Give us guidance.
From the dangers of freedom,
Give us protection.
In the life of freedom,
Give us joy.
In the way in which we use our freedom,
Give us a clear vision

(South American Council of Churches
"A Litany for Human Rights," All Year Round
British Council of Churches, 1988)

A suggestion for your prayer and meditation:

In what way do you act on your own freedom?
In what ways are you enslaved?
Pastor Patty Fox 40 Days with 40 Christian Mystics

Really difficult questions today. I think we're (I am) enslaved, or at risk of enslavement, to the standards of our society which don't match with the teaching of Jesus. It takes a lot of courage to step away from that and give yourself over to radical love, radical hospitality and radical inclusion. Our lives are so complex but we're enslaved to that complexity. I wish for a life of radical simplicity; loving, serving and sharing. Having the ability to make that choice, to decide what shape my life will take, is the ultimate freedom.

Mini Meltdown

Today it really hit me how unready I am in the practical sense for Christmas, and I'm not faring much better spiritually. Most of my relationship with God at the moment seems to centre around my ordination training which sometimes seems to leave little room for us to simply "be" in relationship together. I need to work hard to prevent this relationship from becoming an academic exercise, to seek a deeper connection and understanding though my assignments and essays.
Another work day today meant not considering my LLLA task until I got home, the task being to set a jar aside to collect loose change though Advent to give to charity. After this I wrote some prayers for tomorrow morning's service. The jar sitting beside me helped to focus my prayers towards who the marginalised are in my town and city and where Jesus might find himself here. So many of us are anticipating what a joy Christmas will be, but for many people this simply isn't the case.